Babaehali (Gurdaspur), February
25
Two labourers were killed today and five others injured, one seriously, when they got buried under a mass of earth at a construction site of the micro-hydel project on the UBDC canal, about 10 km from Gurdaspur.
Three other labourers were reportedly missing according to those involved in the rescue work and were expected to have perished under the debris. The injured were shifted to the Civil Hospital, Gurdaspur. Those shifted to the hospital included Rajesh, resident of Purana Shala village, Naranjan Singh of Mustafabad village, Naveen of Nawa Shala village and Sukha Messih.
One of the injured, Puran Messih, whose condition was stated to be serious, was shifted to Amritsar.
According to the survivors, the incident happened when about 25 labourers were digging at the site to construct a supporting wall. Suddenly, a huge mass of earth, from both sides of the area being dug, moved and came over the labourers.
Nirmal Meesih, one of labourers who was rescued from debris, told The Tribune that as soon as the earth started sliding, the labourers ran for their life. While some managed to escape, about 10 got trapped under the debris. Out of them, five, including him, were rescued, he said.
The dead bodies of two labourers, who were killed in the accident, were also recovered.
Those killed in the incident have been identified as Paramjit of Tibber village and Amrik Singh of Babaehali village.
The exact figure of those trapped in debris was likely to become clear by tomorrow, the sources at the site said.
As soon as the accident took place, the contractor and his employees, supervising the construction, fled without making any efforts to save the workers. People from the surrounding areas, however, gathered at the site immediately and started the rescue operation thus saving the life of five labourers.
The district administration also remained insensitive to the incident. Only the SDM, Gurdaspur, reached the spot to supervise the locals carrying out rescue work but he too returned after a brief stopover.
A JCB machine was being used for the rescue operation but that too had been taken off the task killing any hope of finding survivors.
The villagers from the surrounding areas, however, continued with their efforts using
spades. Most of the labourers working at the site were locals. The construction work of the 2.5 MW mini-hydroelectrical project had been entrusted by PEDA to a private company.
The sources informed that the work was progressing at a tardy pace and adequate protection measures were also not being taken for the safety of the labourers.
